Why do you need title insurance?

To protect possibly the most important investment you'll ever make - the investment in real estate.

A lender goes to great lengths to minimize the risk of lending money for the purchase of real estate. First, credit is checked as an indication of the borrower's ability to repay the loan.

Then, the lender seeks assurance that the quality of the title to the property to be acquired, and which will be pledged as security for the loan, is satisfactory. The lender does this by obtaining a loan policy of title insurance.

What title insurance protects against

Here are just a few of the most common hidden risks that can cause loss of title or create an encumbrance on title:

• False impersonation of the true owner of the property
• Forged deeds, releases or wills
• Undisclosed or missing heirs
• Instruments executed under invalid or expired power of attorney
• Mistakes in recording legal documents
• Misinterpretations of wills
• Deeds by persons of unsound mind
• Deeds by minors
• Deeds by persons supposedly single, but in fact married
• Liens for unpaid estate, inheritance, income or gift taxes
• Fraud